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Young shaken up after role in Hudson's injury

Young shaken up after role in Hudson's injury

7/24/13: Tim Hudson has his ankle injured while covering first as Eric Young tries to leg out a base hit in the eighth inning

By David Wilson
/
MLB.com |

NEW YORK -- As soon as Eric Young Jr. made contact with something around first base, he knew something was wrong. He doubled back toward first base where Tim Hudson was collapsed near the bag.

A simple groundout had turned sour. Freddie Freeman bobbled the ball, but recovered. The throw was in time to Hudson, but Young arrived at the bag an instant after the starting pitcher and stepped on his right ankle, fracturing it and leaving Hudson crumpled on the field.

Hudson lay on the field for minutes before being carted off. The whole time, Young was standing at his side, visibly shaken by what had transpired.

"I saw his foot as I'm going for the base right there in the middle, and as I came down, I knew I didn't get any of the base. I knew I got all of his foot," Young said. "And I pretty much knew it was probably broke right when I did it, and that's why I sprinted right back to him and tried to console him as much as I could."

Young stood by as both teams' training staffs came out to have a look at Hudson. He didn't have any relationship with Hudson before Wednesday night's 8-2 loss, other than as competitors.

"You never want to injure anybody," Young said. "You always want to put your best foot forward. It's just one of those things that happens and I just hope he has a speedy recovery, getting back out there doing what he does."

Young said that the injury shook him for the rest of the night, but being able to talk to Hudson on the field and after the game put him at ease a bit.

Young apologized to Hudson and assured him that it was an accident.

"Obviously, I wasn't trying to hurt him on the play," Young said. "He said there was nothing I can do about it. That made me feel somewhat better, but still bummed that he's going to be out for a while."

David Wilson is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.